Every week, I get several press releases, screening invitations and other notifications from a handful of studio contacts. While I won’t be sharing any information regarding my screening invites, some of the press releases might be of interest to my readers, so I thought I’d start sharing them in toto with all of you. These could include new image galleries for various films or important updates to upcoming releases from various smaller studios and art house production companies.

• Image Gallery: Wrath of the Titans
• Press Release: Music Box Acquires Rights for ‘Keep the Lights On’
• Press Release: Seeflix Presents Student Short Films
• Press Release: Arts Corps Launches to Defend Public School Art Funding
• Press Release: Short Program Announced for Sundance London
• Press Release: Disappearing Act European Film Festival Slate Announced

Image Gallery: Wrath of the Titans

Press Release: Music Box Acquires Rights for ‘Keep the Lights On’

MUSIC BOX FILMS ACQUIRES NORTH AMERICAN RIGHTS FOR IRA SACHS’ KEEP THE LIGHTS ON

New York, NY (March 12, 2012) – Music Box Films announced today that the company is acquiring all North American rights to KEEP THE LIGHTS ON, the latest film from Ira Sachs. The film premiered to critical acclaim at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival. Subsequently, at the 2012 Berlin International Film Festival, it received the Teddy Award, the prize for the best film with an LGBT theme.

In his autobiographically inspired, fictional relationship drama KEEP THE LIGHTS ON, filmmaker – and recipient of Sundance’s Grand Jury Prize in 2005 for his film FORTY SHADES OF BLUE – Ira Sachs chronicles the emotionally and sexually charged journey through the love, addiction, and friendship of two men (portrayed by Thure Lindhardt and Zachary Booth). The film was produced by Sachs, Marie Therese Guirgis, and Lucas Joaquin, and the stellar supporting cast includes Julianne Nicholson (HBO’s “Boardwalk Empire”), Souléymane Sy Savané (GOODBYE SOLO) and Paprika Steen (APPLAUSE). The film will screen at the 2012 Tribeca Film Festival next month.

Written by Sachs and Mauricio Zacharias, KEEP THE LIGHTS ON is an honest, unflinching portrait of a relationship between two men in New York City. Despite meeting through a casual sexual encounter, documentary filmmaker Erik (Lindhardt) and closeted lawyer Paul (Booth) find a deeper connection and become bonded in an almost decade-long relationship defined by highs, lows and dysfunctional patterns. Through it all, Erik struggles to negotiate his own boundaries and dignity and to be true to himself.

Ed Arentz, Managing Director of Music Box Films, said: “We’ve been fans of Ira Sachs since THE DELTA so its a special treat to be able to present his latest film. Ira gets the big, little and difficult things right in KEEP THE LIGHTS ON: the thrill and evanescence of desire, the endurance of love, the unknowableness of others and the sense of time going by. His homage to legendary New York photographer and filmmaker James Bidgood is an added bonus.”

Noted Sachs: “Music Box has proven itself in a few short years to be a cutting edge distributor with a sophisticated understanding of both the market and cinema. Ed and Bill have a keen eye for films that have a potential to breakout from the independent landscape, and I’m excited by their ambition and excitement for Keep the Lights On.”

The deal for the film was negotiated by Marie Therese Guirgis (Producer of Keep the Lights On) and Kevin Iwashina (Preferred Content), with William Schopf, president of Music Box Films.

About MUSIC BOX FILMS
Founded in 2007, Music Box Films has quickly established itself as one of the leading US arthouse film distributors in theaters and on the various home entertainment platforms. Music Box’s release of Guillaume Canet’s TELL NO ONE was the most popular foreign-language film of 2008 and in 2010, the film adaptations of Stieg Larsson’s trilogy of international mega sellers dominated the foreign-language film market. The first in the series, THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO, with over $10 million in US box office was one the most popular international releases of the decade. Upcoming releases include Terence Davies’ period romance THE DEEP BLUE SEA, starring Rachel Weisz, and foreign-language Academy Award nominee MONSIEUR LAZHAR. Music Box Films is independently owned and operated by the Southport Music Box Corporation, which also owns and operates The Music Box Theatre, Chicago’s premiere venue for independent and foreign films.

Press Release: Seeflix Presents Student Short Films

SEEFLIK BRINGS STUDENT SHORT FILMS TO COMCAST’S XFINITY TV AND SEEFLIK.COM

The Competition 2011’s Student Finalists’ Shorts Now Available in 20 Million Xfinity TV Homes

Los Angeles, CA – (March 12, 2011) — SeeFlik, the creator of online film competitions for emerging filmmakers to showcase their work, is bringing 20 short films from student filmmakers on Comcast’s Xfinity On Demand, XfinityTV.comand through the Xfinity TV app. The short films from the top 20 competition finalists, who participated in its online student film competition — The Competition 2011 – are available to 20 million Comcast’s Xfinity TV homes through March 31, 2012 as well as on www.seeFlik.com.

The 20 student film finalists (complete list below) were selected from more than 400 entries from more than 80 colleges and universities. The short films ranged from comedy, drama, thrillers and romance to social issues, current challenges, political satire and the comically absurd.

“Our competition gives emerging young artists a platform to reach many that may not have had the chance to see these engaging shorts,” said Lawrence R. Meli, CEO, Seeflik. “By expanding viewers’ access to these films on Xfinity TV, we hope to build awareness around how films – and our entertainment – continues to bridge cultures, peoples and understanding.”

Seeflik’s panel of esteemed-judges determined the 20-finalists based on script, production value and overall quality of content. Judges include Michael London (Sideways), Shane Black (Lethal Weapon), Angelo Pizzo (Hoosiers), Keir Pearson (Hotel Rwanda), Robert Kamen (Karate Kid) and Suzanne de Passe (Lonesome Dove) and Luis Guzman (How to Make it in America).

After narrowing down the field to 20-finalists, Seeflik will pay the top six finalists from a prize pool of $50,000, with the competition winners also getting the opportunity to be mentored by David Greenblatt in Los Angeles, who will set up showcases with talent agencies and studios on the winner’s behalf.

SeeFlik’s Short Film Competition finalists are: The Man Who Cried (Bradley Jackson; UT Austin), Wash Me (Winston Titus Tao; Chapman University), Beholden (David Jibladze; Chapman University), The Line (Ken Bassett; Chapman University), Allen Mack (Cory Miller; UCLA), I Love You Will Smith (Bradley Jackson; UT Austin), Playing House (Mairin Hart; Chapman University), Cadet (Ryan Steiner; Arizona State University), Made in China (Kellen Moore; Chapman University), Roomies (Anthony Sclafani, Jr.: AFI), La Nina Del Desierta (Malachi Rempen; Chapman), Saturday Morning Gift (Bassel Al Shahade; Syracuse University), The Secret Life of Jonathan Sky (Kevin Slee; Chapman University), Umbrella Girl (Saeko Igarashi; UCLA), The Fixer (Nicholas Mihm; Arizona State University), Sombrero (Nathaniel Atcheson; Chapman University), Clemency (Joseph Albanese; Chapman University), Good Injuns (Christopher Meyers; Arizona State University), Degeneration (Gregory Rocco; CUNY Brooklyn College), Skip Brunette (Ryan Scura; Rhode Island School of Design).

For more about the finalists and their films, please visit http://www.seeflik.com/directors-lounge

About SeeFlik
SeeFlik was established to give emerging filmmakers a chance to showcase their films to a wide audience in a competitive film festival environment. SeeFlik’s The Competition 2011 was open exclusively to students currently attending, or within five-years of graduating from an accredited undergraduate or graduate film programs. Moving forward, SeeFlik’s competitions will be expanding and open to all legal residents of the United States (visit www.SeeFlik.com for more details).

About Comcast Cable
Comcast Corporation (Nasdaq: CMCSA) (www.comcast.com) is one of the nation’s leading providers of entertainment, information and communications products and services. Comcast is principally involved in the operation of cable systems through Comcast Cable and in the development, production and distribution of entertainment, news, sports and other content for global audiences through NBCUniversal. Comcast Cable is one of the nation’s largest video, high-speed Internet and phone providers to residential and business customers. Comcast is the majority owner and manager of NBCUniversal, which owns and operates entertainment and news cable networks, the NBC and Telemundo broadcast networks, local television station groups, television production operations, a major motion picture company and theme parks.

Press Release: Arts Corps Launches to Defend Public School Art Funding

THE ARTS CORPS LAUNCHED TO DEFEND ARTS FUNDING IN PUBLIC SCHOOLS

New York, NY (March 12, 2012)— The Creative Coalition announces the formation of the Arts Corps, a volunteer program that marshals leadership from the arts and entertainment arenas to help save arts funding in the public school systems. This all-volunteer brigade will work with school boards, policy makers, parents, and other community leaders to encourage support for the arts in state educational budgets.

The “inaugural” class of the Arts Corps includes actor and President of The Creative Coalition Tim Daly, and actors Omar Epps, Marlon Wayans, David Arquette, Patricia Arquette, Alfre Woodard, Steven Weber, Andrea Bowen, CCH Pounder, Esai Morales, Rob Morrow, Griffin Dunne, Giancarlo Esposito, Richard Kind, Richard Schiff, Rachael Leigh Cook, Tichina Arnold, Harry Hamlin, and KayCee Stroh. In addition, the Arts Corps also has signed on executives from the music, television, and film industries to participate.

The Creative Coalition formed the Arts Corps as a means of counteracting the wave of political and economic fall-out besieging America’s educational institutions and causing our nation’s states to abandon arts education funding as a means to salvage budgets.

“The Arts Corps demonstrates to educators on a local level that a strong arts education is vital to the cultural and economic advancement of our country,” said actor and President of The Creative Coalition Tim Daly. “When students are exposed to art programs, they are far more likely to graduate from high school and continue their education. These are the students who will become our engineers, politicians, business leaders, and creative thinkers in the future.”

“During these difficult economic times, our nation must realize the importance of designing and maintaining arts education programs,” said CEO of The Creative Coalition Robin Bronk. “Recent studies unequivocally conclude that the creativity and innovation utilized in the artistic process are highly valued by employers in the United States. Funding the arts in education is a local, state and national economic development issue. Our children are depending on us to make sure this current trend in de-funding is reversed.”

About The Creative Coalition
The Creative Coalition (www.TheCreativeCoalition.org) is the premiere nonprofit, 501(C)(3) nonpartisan social and public advocacy organization of the arts and entertainment community. Founded in 1989 by prominent members of the creative community, The Creative Coalition is dedicated to educating, mobilizing, and activating its members on issues of public importance. The Creative Coalition uses the power and platform of the arts and entertainment communities in award-winning PSA campaigns. Actor Tim Daly serves as the organization’s President.

Press Release: Short Program Announced for Sundance London

SUNDANCE LONDON: SHORT FILM PROGRAMME ANNOUNCED FOR INAUGURAL EVENT

Eight Films from the U.S. and Abroad Selected

London, 15 March 2012 — Sundance Institute and The O2 announced today the programme of eight short films that will screen at the inaugural Sundance London festival, taking place at The O2 from 26-29 April. These films screened in January at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah – the premier independent film festival in the United States. All eight short films will screen together in one Short Film Programme.

Trevor Groth, Director of Programming for the Sundance Film Festival, said, “The Sundance Film Festival has a rich history of supporting short-form filmmaking, which has long been a hotbed for discovering emerging filmmaking talent.”

He went on to add, “In the context of the larger Sundance London programme, it is particularly exciting for us to build a showcase of work by filmmakers in both the U.S. and overseas, side by side, to highlight the diversity and depth of work in this field.”

Soon to be announced is the winner of the Short Film Competition, a collaborative effort with the Royal Borough of Greenwich and Ravensbourne College, in which UK-based filmmakers were invited to enter original pieces between three and five minutes in length around the theme ‘Story of Our Time.’ The winning short film will premiere at the event.

In addition to film screenings, Sundance London will host live music performances and events each evening, including the previously announced Opening Night event An Evening With Robert Redford And T Bone Burnett, Placebo in concert and Tricky and Martina Topley-Bird performing Maxinquaye. Also on offer to Sundance London audiences will be unique opportunities to attend panels and hear guest speakers talk about the part they play in making films, documentaries and the role of music in modern cinema.

Programme information and ticket packages are available at www.sundance-london.com. Individual film tickets will be on general sale from 4 April.

SHORT FILM PROGRAMME IN DETAIL
The Arm / U.S.A. (Directors and screenwriters: Brie Larson, Sarah Ramos, Jessie Ennis) — In an attempt to keep up with social pressure in a technologically advanced world, Chance starts a texting relationship with Genevieve, a girl he meets at a yogurt shop. Winner of the Special Jury Award for Comedic Storytelling at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival. 9 minutes

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Dol (First Birthday) / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Andrew Ahn) — A gay Korean American man yearns for a family life just out of reach. 11 minutes

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Don’t Hug Me I’m Scared / United Kingdom (Directors: Joseph Pelling, Rebecca Sloan) — A short film about teaching creativity by This Is It Collective. 3 minutes

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Fishing Without Nets / U.S.A. (Director: Cutter Hodierne, Screenwriters: Cutter Hodierne, John Hibey) — A story of pirates in Somalia, told from the perspective of the pirates themselves. Winner of the Grand Jury Prize in Short Filmmaking at the 2012 Sundance Film
Festival. 17 minutes

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The Return (Kthimi) / Kosovo (Director: Blerta Zeqiri, Screenwriter: Shefqet Gjocaj) — A man comes back from a Serb prison to his wife and son. Much has changed since he was declared missing and continuing where they left off four years ago may not be as easy as it seems. Winner of the Jury Prize in Short Film, International Fiction at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival. 21 minutes

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Robots of Brixton / United Kingdom (Director: Kibwe Tavares) — The trials and tribulations of young robots surviving at the sharp end of inner city life, living the predictable existence of a populous hemmed in by poverty, disillusionment and mass unemployment. Winner of the Special Jury Award for Animation Direction at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival. 6 minutes

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Song of the Spindle / U.S.A. (Director and screenwriter: Drew Christie) — An animated, humorous and informative conversation between a sperm whale and a man. Each one tries to convince the other that his brain is bigger. 4 minutes

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Tooty’s Wedding / United Kingdom (Director: Frederic Casella, Screenwriters: Laura Solon, Ben Willbond) — A young couple’s marriage hilariously hits the rocks during a weekend wedding in the country. 19 minutes

Press Release: Disappearing Act European Film Festival Slate Announced

The Czech Center and the Romanian Cultural Institute in Partnership with 23 European Cultural and Consular Agencies Present the Fourth Annual Edition of the Disappearing Act European Film Festival in New York to Run April 11-22, 2012

Expanding festival includes 25 contemporary films from 21 European countries with opening night at the IFC Center and screenings at the Bohemian National Hall and the French Institute Alliance Francaise (FIAF)

New York, March 15, 2012 — The Czech Center New York and the Romanian Cultural Institute in New York, in collaboration with 23 other European cultural institutes and consulates in the framework of the European Union National Institutes for Culture (EUNIC), present the Disappearing Act IV European film festival in New York. See below for a full line up of films. This year, the series presents films in three venues with an opening night event at the IFC Center on Wednesday, April 11; two days of screenings at Tinker Auditorium at the French Institute Alliance Francaise (FIAF) on Friday, April 13 and Saturday, April 14; and in the digital cinema at Bohemian National Hall, from April 12-22. The festival will present 25 contemporary European films from Austria, the Wallonia-Brussels and Flanders regions of Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Estonia, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden and Switzerland. The full line up is as follows:

• The System (Das System – alles verstehen heisst alles verzeihen), Germany, 2011, directed by Marc Bauder – U.S. Premiere & Opening Night Film
• Amador, Spain, 2010, directed by Fernando Leon de Aranoa – NY Premiere
• The Big Trip (Le grand’tour), Belgium, 2011, directed by Jerome Le Maire – U.S. Premiere
• The Border (Hranice), Slovakia, 2009, directed by Jaroslav Vojtek – NY Premiere
• Brownian Movement, The Netherlands-Belgium-Germany, 2010, directed by Nanouk Leopold – NY Premiere
• The Christening (Chrzest), Poland, 2010, directed by Marcin Wrona – NY Premiere
• Cinema Komunisto, Serbia, 2010, directed by Mila Turaljic
• Dad (Oca), Slovenia, 2010, directed by Vlado Skafar – NY Premiere
• Disco and Atomic War (Disko ja tuumasoda), Estonia-Finland, 2009, directed by Jaak Kilmi and Kiur Aarma
• Plays (Iztochni piesi), Bulgaria-Sweden, 2009, directed by Kamen Kalev
• Eighty Letters (Osmdesat dopisu), Czech Republic, 2011, directed by Vaclav Kadrnka – NY Premiere
• The Fatherless (Die Vaterlosen), Austria, 2011, directed by Marie Kreutzer – NY Premiere
• Involuntary (De ofrivilliga), Sweden, 2008, directed by Ruben Ostlund
• Just Between Us (Neka ostane medju nama), Croatia-Serbia-Slovenia, 2010, directed by Rajko Grlic
• The Little Room (La petite chambre), Switzerland-Luxembourg, 2010, directed by Stephanie Chuat and Veronique Reymond – NY Premiere
• Medal of Honor (Medalia de onoare), Romania-Germany, 2009, directed by Calin Peter Netzer
• Memory Lane, France, 2010, directed by Mikhael Hers, Austria, 2011, directed by Markus Schleinzer
• Misfortunates (De helaasheid der dingen), Belgium, 2009, directed by Felix van Groeningen
• The Mouth of the Wolf (La bocca del lupo), Italy-France, 2009, directed by Pietro Marcello
• Negative History of Hungarian Cinema (Negativ Magyar filmtortenet), Hungary, 2010, directed by Gyula Nemes – NY Premiere
• Our Beloved Month of August (Aquele Querido Mes de Agosto), Portugal-France, 2008, directed by Miguel Gomes
• Police, Adjective (Politist, adjectiv), Romania, 2009, directed by Corneliu Porumboiu
• Wasted Youth, Greece, 2010, directed by Argyris Papadimitropoulos and Jan Vogel – NY Premiere
• White White World (Beli, beli svet), Serbia-Germany-Sweden, 2010, directed by Oleg Novkovic

For updates and schedule information please visit: www.czechcenter.com and www.icrny.org
For complete press materials and downloadable film stills, visit: icrny.org/press_disappearing.htm

Disappearing Act launched as an annual event in 2009 and instantly became a popular event in New York for its unique, carefully curated celebration of the vitality of European cinema. This year, the program presents films that have gained acclaim on the festival circuit and with critics, yet remain largely unknown to American audiences. Though some of the films have secured U.S. theatrical distribution and a DVD release, the unbending financial demands of the current distribution system prevents them from attaining wider audiences. Disappearing Act brings these titles back to the attention of the media and the public, giving them another chance to be seen. Films will be introduced by special guests and filmmakers, who will also be present for post-screening discussions. Guests include Marc Bauder, director of The System, along with co-screenwriter Doerte Franke, who will be present for the U.S. premiere of their film on the opening night on April 11 at the IFC Center; Vaclav Kadrnka, director and screenwriter of Eighty Letters, to screen on April 15; Uliks Fehmiu, producer and star of White White World to screen on April 18; and, Argyris Papadimitropoulos, co-director of Wasted Youth, to screen on April 21.

Although the festival does not hunt for premieres and discoveries, the program includes a number of theatrical and festival New York firsts, including the U.S. premiere of the opening night film The System at the IFC Center. The festival will also present New York premieres of the long awaited Wasted Youth, as well as Amador, Eighty Letters and Christening to name just a few. This year the series also brings back into the spotlight two critically acclaimed films with current distribution: Michael and Police, Adjective. Also on the program are rarely screened films such as Ruben Ostlund’s (Play) second feature Involuntary, the remarkably assured narrative works Memory Lane and Eastern Plays, as well as works of non-fiction cinema represented here by a small gem, The Mouth of the Wolf, from Pietro Marcello, the author of The Silence of Peleshian, which recently premiered in the “First Look” program of the Museum of the Moving Image in New York, and the popular portrait of Yugoslav filmmaking machine, Cinema Komunisto.

For the second year in a row, the Romanian Cultural Institute in New York will provide support for the films and filmmakers from Romania as well as other South Eastern European countries, presenting titles from Romania, Serbia, Greece and Bulgaria.

The Disappearing Act program includes a panel discussion, to be held this year on April 10 at the Bohemian National Hall as a pre-festival event. This year’s panel turns its attention to the presence of European cinema at American universities. The festival also opens itself as an educational resource providing an opportunity to students of New York University’s cinema studies program to introduce several films. Previously, panel discussions have been led by Richard Pena of the Film Society of Lincoln Center, A. O. Scott of The New York Times, John Vanco of IFC Films, journalist Eugene Hernandez, and others who have explored industry topics such as access to foreign-language films by American audiences.

Disappearing Act IV is organized by the Czech Center New York and the Romanian Cultural Institute in New York in partnership with the Austrian Cultural Forum New York, the Belgian Tourist Office – French Speaking Belgium – Brussels Wallonia, the Consulate General of the Republic of Croatia, the Consulate General of Estonia, the Consulate General of the Slovak Republic, the Consulate General of Slovenia, the Consulate General of Sweden, the Consulate General of Switzerland, the Cultural Services of the French Embassy, the Embassy of Portugal, the French Institute Alliance Francaise (FIAF), Flanders House, the Goethe-Institut New York, the Hungarian Cultural Center, the IFC Center, Instituto Cervantes – The Cultural Center of Spain in New York together with Spain Culture New York – the Consulate General of Spain, the Italian Cultural Institute, the Polish Cultural Institute New York, and with the support of the +421 Foundation, the Croatian Audiovisual Centre, the EYE Film Institute Netherlands, the Slovak Film Institute, and Wallonie Bruxelles Images. An official project of the European Union National Institutes for Culture (EUNIC), with the support of the EU Delegation to the United Nations. The festival is curated and produced by Irena Kovarova.

Tickets to opening night screening of The System are available for purchase at the IFC Center and online at ifccenter.com for $13, seniors and students $9, IFC members $8

The Opening night screening will be followed by a party for ticket holders.
ADMISSION FREE TO ALL OTHER SCREENINGS
on a first-come, first-served basis

Visit www.czechcenter.com for schedule, film details and program updates.

Venues:

April 11
IFC Center, 323 Sixth Avenue at West 3rd Street, New York. Subway: A, C, B, D, E, F & M to West 4th St. Station

April 10, 12, 15-22
Bohemian National Hall, 321 East 73rd Street bet. 1st and 2nd Avenues, New York. Subway: 6 to 68th Street Hunter College or 77th Street.

April 13 & 14
French Institute Alliance Francaise (FIAF), 55 East 59th Street bet. Madison and Park Avenues, New York. Subway: 6 to 68th Street Hunter College or 77th Street. Subway: 4, 5, 6 to 59th & Lex., N, R to 59 St., E to 53rd St.

Film Descriptions:
All films in original version with English subtitles unless otherwise noted

Amador directed and written by Fernando Leon de Aranoa – NY Premiere
Spain, 2010, 112 min, in Spanish
A special preview of a Film Movement release
Presented by Instituto Cervantes, The Cultural Center of Spain in New York, together with Spain Culture New York and the Consulate General of Spain, co-presented by Pragda
Cast: Magaly Solier, Celso Bugallo, Pietro Sibille
Official Selection – Berlin Film Festival
Official Selection – Guadalajara Film Festival, Best Picture and Best Actress Award for Iberoamerican film

A Latin American immigrant living in Spain, Marcela is ready to leave her live-in boyfriend. But she learns news that forces her to stay. To help out her boyfriend’s fledgling business, she gets a new job looking after the ailing Amador. They find an immediate connection and it seems like things are finally looking up in Marcela’s life. However things change quickly and in order to keep her job and her money, Marcela must tell a devastating lie. As noted by Jonathan Holland of Variety, the film “successfully blends black comedy, lyricism and social critique.”

The Big Trip (Le grand’tour) directed by Jerome Le Maire – NY Premiere
Belgium, 2011, 98min, in French
Presented by the Belgian Tourist Office – French Speaking Belgium – Brussels Wallonia in collaboration with Wallonie Bruxelles Images
Cast: Vincent Solheid, Patrick Humblet, Pierre Fontaine, Denis Burton
Official Selection – Cannes Film Festival

Filmed as a faux documentary about a troupe of carnival musicians, The Big Trip follows members of a brass band propense to heavy drinking and partying who set out on foot to the nearest big town festival. On a whim, they decide to extend their trip, first on a detour to a carnival in Germany, and later to a more existential destination of permanent camaraderie and camping out in the woods while boozing and getting high. Their new goal requires them to leave behind their daily lives, their wives and boring jobs. A wacky answer to the Hangover with its male bonding excursion, the film is a moving introspection into an exclusively male world.

The Border (Hranice) directed by Jaroslav Vojtek – NY Premiere
Slovakia, 2009, 72 min, in Slovak, Documentary
Presented by the Consulate General of the Slovak Republic in collaboration with +421 Foundation and the Slovak Film Institute
Official Selection – Rotterdam Film Festival

In the Eastern most part of Slovakia lays the village of Slemence. In 1946 it was brutally divided into two parts by a new border between Czechoslovakia and the Ukraine, which at the time was a state of the Soviet Union. Velke Slemence remained on the Slovak side, and Male Slemence ended up on the Eastern side of the border, which fitted with barbed wire ran through gardens, cemeteries, fields, and divided families and the village community. At one point the fence was even equipped with electric power, keeping citizens of two supposedly brotherly countries apart. After a time of relative calm and a relaxed regime, the border again becomes a heavily guarded area, as the independent Slovakia becomes a bordering country of the EU territory.

Brownian Movement directed by Nanouk Leopold – NY Premiere
The Netherlands-Belgium-Germany, 2010, 102 min, in English and French
Presented in collaboration with the EYE Film Institute Netherlands
Cast: Sandra Hueller, Dragan Bakema
Official Selection – Berlin Film Festival

A young professional couple lives with their small son in Brussels. The woman, a medical doctor involved in clinical research, rents an apartment and turns her patients into research objects of a more private dimension. She brings her subjects – men of all shapes, ages and sizes who absolutely don’t compare with her handsome husband – to her secret hideaway to have sex. The doctor’s private research comes to light, and she is about to lose it all, but the couple manages to save their marriage and stay together. Or at least that’s what it seems like before the husband succumbs to lingering doubts.

The Christening (Chrzest) directed by Marcin Wrona – NY Premiere
Poland, 2010, 86 min, in Polish
A special preview of a Palisades Tartan release
Presented by the Polish Cultural Institute New York
Cast: Wojciech Zielinski, Tomasz Schuchardt, Natalia Rybicka
Official Selection – Toronto Film Festival
Official Selection – San Sebastian Film Festival

In this slow-burning thriller, the 30-something protagonist is about to celebrate the christening of his first child. He’s living the life of a successful businessman, until an old friend arrives to become the child’s godfather and he gradually discovers, that his old underworld connections are coming back to haunt him, threatening an idyllic snapshot of family bliss. Wrona devoted his forceful film to a portrayal of masculinity, fatherhood, and a friendship that confronts the ultimate test.

Cinema Komunisto directed by Mila Turaljic
Serbia, 2010, 100 min, Documentary, in Serbian
Presented by the Romanian Cultural Institute in New York
Official Selection – San Francisco Film Festival

An absorbing account of the creation of the miracle of the Yugoslav film industry follows the history on the background of Yugoslav President Tito’s own cinephilia and fascination with every aspect of film production. Featuring Tito’s personal projectionist along with interviews of filmmakers, studio directors and film stars, director Mila Turaljic paints a vivid picture of the rise and fall of once mighty film studios. Rich in archival footage, the documentary also includes records of Hollywood film stars showing themselves off at the Pula film festival and being showered with attention by the local media and the Yugoslav president himself.

Dad (Oca) directed by Vlado Skafar – NY Premiere
Slovenia, 2010, 71 min, in Slovenian
Presented by the Consulate General of Slovenia
Cast: Miki Ros, Sandi Salamon
Official Selection – Venice Film Festival

With cinematography reminiscent of a pastoral painting, Dad tells a story of a father and a son who meet again and spend an afternoon together after a long time living apart. The son, barely a teen, surprises his father with intellectual and emotional maturity. Feeling guilty for abandoning his son at an early age, the father attempts to reconnect and assume again a role of a parent, and to blur the divisions that were created by his long absence.

Disco and Atomic War (Disko ja tuumasoda) directed by Jaak Kilmi and Kiur Aarma
Estonia-Finland, 2009, 80 min, Documentary, in Estonian, Finnish, Russian, English
An Icarus Films release. Presented by the Consulate General of Estonia.
Official Selection – Telluride Film Festival

One of the most popular documentaries in the library of the Icarus Films distribution company, Disco and Atomic War is an engrossing and entertaining account of the futile attempts of the Soviet media and its propaganda machine to counteract the influence of free media seeping through the air and borders of the Soviet Republic of Estonia from the coasts of Finland. Becoming virtual battlefield, Estonian airwaves were jammed from both sides, yet the pull of the Western TV broadcast for the entertainment-starved public proved to be too strong. J.R. and Dallas make a special appearance.

Eastern Plays (Iztochni piesi) directed and written by Kamen Kalev
Bulgaria-Sweden, 2009, 83 min, in Bulgarian
Presented by the Romanian Cultural Institute in New York.
Cast: Christo Christov, Ovanes Torosian, Saadet Isil Aksoy
Official Selection – Cannes Film Festival, Directors Fortnight

The paths of two brothers cross during a fateful meeting one night on the streets of Sofia – the older Itso (played as a version of himself by the late Christo Christov) is an abstaining drug addict who’s trying to hang on for dear life, but has a hard time finding a reason to persevere. His teenage brother still lives with their domineering and insensitive father. He’s running with a gang of racist thugs and one fateful night marks his initiation. Though in themselves brutal, the night’s events help the brothers to realize where they stand in life.

Eighty Letters (Osmdesat dopisu) directed and written by Vaclav Kadrnka – NY Premiere
Czech Republic, 2011, 75 min, in Czech
Presented by the Czech Center New York.
Cast: Zuzana Lapcikova, Martin Pavlus
Official Selection – Berlin Film Festival
Official Selection – Thessaloniki Film Festival, Silver Alexander and FIPRESCI Awards

Screening will be followed by Q&A with director Vaclav Kadrnka.

In the late 1980s in communist Czechoslovakia, a teenage boy wakes up in an empty apartment frantically looking for his mother. His distress and overall dread of his status quo is increased with every silent minute of the film. He finds his mother on a bus going to the big city and joins her on a quest. They need to secure the paperwork necessary to be able to join the woman’s husband in England, where he recently defected. The debuting director, who based the story on the experience of his own childhood and the 80 letters his mother wrote to his father before the family got back together, uses every tool available to him to transfer the claustrophobic atmosphere of his youth to the audience, keeping the color palette to shades of grey and brown and the dialogue at a bare minimum.

The Fatherless (Die Vaterlosen) directed and written by Marie Kreutzer – NY Premiere
Austria, 2011, 104 min, in German
Presented by the Austrian Cultural Forum New York
Cast: Andreas Kiendl, Andrea Wenzl, Emily Cox, Philipp Hochmair
Official Selection – Berlin Film Festival
Official Selection – Cannes Film Festival

Adult children rush to the deathbed of their mostly estranged father who lived in a grand old house in the rural area of Austria. It was a place where they lived as children, the offspring of a group of free thinkers living in a commune of hippies that existed for almost a decade. The oasis however ended one day and the group split up – in some cases easily, in others very painfully. Now adults themselves, the children are reconciling with the heartbreaking events that happened couple of decades ago and uncover old mysteries, which will finally help them to move on.

Involuntary (De ofrivilliga) directed by Ruben Ostlund
Sweden, 2008, 98 min, in Swedish
Presented by the Consulate General of Sweden.
Cast: Villmar Bjorkman, Linnea Cart-Larny, Leif Edlund, and Sara Eriksson
Official Selection – Cannes Film Festival, Un Certain Regard

Much like with his latest film Play, an official selection of the New York Film Festival, Ostlund provides food for thought and robust discussion about contemporary society already in his invigorating second feature. Skillfully combining five stories of people who in one way or another adjust their behavior and succumb to the pressures of a group, the film is constructed from a series of one-shot scenes. The technique underlines the awkwardness of the situations and although the stories are independent in their narrative, they overlap in theme and reinforce each other’s message.

Just Between Us (Neka ostane medju nama) directed and written by Rajko Grlic Presented by the Consulate General of the Republic of Croatia in collaboration with the Croatian Audiovisual Centre
Croatia-Serbia-Slovenia, 2010, 87 min, in Croatian
Cast: Miki Manojlovic, Bojan Navojec, Daria Lorenci, Ksenija Marinkovic
Official Selection – Karlovy Vary International Film Festival, Best Director Award

Billed as a wicked indiscreet story from contemporary Zagreb, Just Between Us is a bitter comedy about two brothers and their wives, lovers, and their sexual escapades. The older son of a famous painter was always the handsome one, more popular with the ladies, more successful in business and an all around lucky guy. But he’s also the big trouble. Leading a complicated life with two concurrent families, it’s clear that his luck will run out soon. His younger brother lives in perhaps an even bigger mess, but in the end we find there is not much of a difference between them and that one should just try to find happiness in any form it comes.

The Little Room (La petite chambre) directed and written by Stephanie Chuat and Veronique Reymond – NY Premiere
Switzerland-Luxembourg, 2010, 87 min, in French
A special preview of a Cinema Libre Studios release. Presented by the Consulate General of Switzerland
Cast: Florence Loiret Caille, Michel Bouquet, Eric Caravaca
Official Selection – Locarno Film Festival

A young visiting nurse just returns to work after a tragedy befalls her family. Work brings her solace though her new patient is not being very cooperative. He’s an elderly man (in a quietly moving performance by the fabulous Michel Bouquet) who lives in denial of the fact that he’s losing his capability to live on his own. Resisting his son’s wishes to move to a retirement home, the old man escapes with the help of his nurse who offers him her own house as a shelter. The friendship of the man with the woman has redemptive powers and triggers the relief that they were both searching, though it comes for each of them in a very different form.

Medal of Honor (Medalia de onoare) directed by Calin Peter Netzer
Romania-Germany, 2009, 104 min, in Romanian
Presented by the Romanian Cultural Institute in New York
Cast: Victor Rebengiuc, Camelia Zorlescu, Ion Lucian
Official Selection – Palm Springs Film Festival

This is a tale about a retired man, who at 75 feels unappreciated by his wife and especially his adult son. When our hero receives a surprise letter informing him that he had been awarded a medal for his brave service in the army, things start looking up in his life. Maybe he would finally be able to lure his son back from Canada, where he took a job against the wishes of his father, and even started a family. Maybe he will be able to convince him to bring home his Canadian born grandson, with whom he can’t communicate, as neither knows each other’s language. But maybe, the medal brings more trouble than good. After all, it’s contemporary Romania, things change fast and one can’t ever be sure what the next day will bring.

Memory Lane directed and written by Mikhael Hers
France, 2010, 98 min, in French
Presented by the Cultural Services of the French Embassy
Cast: with Thibault Vincon, Dounia Sichov, Lolita Chammah
Official Selection – Locarno Film Festival

It’s the middle of summer in a Parisian suburb. A group of former high school friends, now in their mid twenties, rehearses music of their indie band on the quieted grounds of a school. Soon they find themselves assembled again with the rest of their childhood friends and revisiting their former haunts. Old alliances are rekindled and new ones slowly grow. The innocence of childhood and teenage years is gone, replaced by sincerity of adulthood. Suddenly everything in their lives carries much more weight – though the weight is not always a heavy load.

Michael directed and written by Markus Schleinzer
Austria, 2011, 96 min, in German
Distributed by Strand Releasing, Presented by the Austrian Cultural Forum New York
Cast: Michael Fuith, David Rauchenberger
Official Selection – Cannes Film Festival

Meeting with rave reviews worldwide and upon its recent release in New York, Schleinzer’s directing debut has been dubbed a ‘triumph of uneasy cinema.’ This film is the quintessential example of films distributed in the U.S. that fall out of sight all too quickly. The topic is child abuse and the fact that it is based on several real life stories well publicized by Austrian media in the recent past, makes the experience even more chilling. Yet the drama is achieved through a serene, documentary style, by following the daily routines of the abuser and his very young captive, an innocent boy who cannot understand why would his parents not want him back and leave him alone in the basement of his abductor’s house.

The Misfortunates (De helaasheid der dingen) directed by Felix van Groeningen
Belgium, 2009, 108 min, in Dutch
A Neoclassics Films release, Presented by Flanders House
Cast: Koen De Graeve, Kenneth Vanbaeden, Valentijn Dhaenens
Official Selection – Cannes Film Festival, Directors Fortnight

Considering depictions of dysfunctional families, the one at the center of this bitter comedy maybe be on top of the list: four lazy, binge drinking 30-something irresponsible brothers still living in their mother’s house. She’s the only corrective to their bad behavior and the only one looking after the 13-year old son of one of her offspring. The boy could truly testify to “the shitiness of things” which is the literal translation of the original title. But even in such a family, there are moments of tenderness and positive emotion, which eventually allow the young hero to become a successful writer. Based on one of the most popular contemporary novels in Dutch, the director employed a striking formal and visual style making this film as successful as its literary source.

The Mouth of the Wolf (La bocca del lupo) directed by Pietro Marcello
Italy-France, 2009, 76 min, in Italian
Presented by the Italian Cultural Institute
Official Selection – Torino Film Festival, Best Film and FIPRESCI Award
Official Selection – Berlin Film Festival, Best Documentary Teddy Award, Caligari Award

A love letter to Genoa and a film about the love of Enzo and Mary would be the short description of this indescribable film, originally commissioned by the Jesuits of Genoa as part of their work for the marginalized in this beautiful old city. Marcello tells the story of Enzo, a giant with a soft heart, a man who spent 20 years in prison for killing two policemen, and the love of his life Mary, a junkie who he met in prison and who promised to wait for him and stay off drugs. Blended with this story are gorgeously photographed cityscapes of Genoa, current and archival, mostly from the time of Enzo’s youth in the 1970s.

Negative History of Hungarian Cinema (Negativ Magyar filmtortenet) directed and written by Gyula Nemes – NY Premiere
Presented by the Hungarian Cultural Center
Hungary, 2010, 47 min, Documentary, in Hungarian

The history of cinema has its negative antipode, the plethora of films that were never finished or realized. Gyula Nemes set out to uncover these projects through interviews with the greats of Hungarian cinema such as Miklos Jancso, Sandor Pal, Judith Elek and more. The director also encourages his subjects to film little reconstructions of the lost projects in front of his camera, which results in visually rich and formally fresh work of non-fiction cinema.

Our Beloved Month of August (Aquele Querido Mes de Agosto) directed and written by Miguel Gomes
A FiGa Films release, Presented by the Embassy of Portugal
Portugal-France, 2008, 147 min, in Portuguese
Cast: Sonia Bandeira, Fabio Oliveira
Official Selection – Cannes Film Festival Directors Fortnight

Deep in the Portuguese mountains, activities swell during the month of August. People come home, set off fireworks, fight fires, perform karaoke, jump off a bridge, hunt wild boar, drink beer, and make babies. Had director Miguel Gomes taken a straight forward approach to the subject, resisting the lure of the festivities, the synopsis for his film could be reduced to an account of the romantic relations of a father, his daughter, a cousin, and musicians in a dance hall band during the beloved month of August. Instead, Gomes has crafted a wonderfully chaotic hybrid of documentary and fiction which delicately captures the vibrant spirit of a local Portuguese community.

Police, Adjective (Politist, adjectiv) directed and written by Corneliu Porumboiu
Romania, 2009, 113 min, in Romanian
An IFC Films release, Presented by the Romanian Cultural Institute in New York
Cast: Dragos Bucur, Vlad Ivanov, Irina Saulescu
Official Selection – Cannes Film Festival, Un Certain Regard – Prix du Jury

Another quiet hard hitter of Romanian cinema, this time coming from the director of 12:08 Bucharest East. Porumboiu delves into the system of contemporary Romanian policing. Described by A.O. Scott in his glowing New York Times review, this “is a story of law enforcement with a special interest in grammar.” But humor aside, the theme at the heart of the film is what we consider to be the role of the police in our society. The central character – a young detective on a look out to catch an even younger hashish ‘dealer’ – doubts whether the task he’s been given is a police matter at all. His doubts increase with every day and every hour he spends on his pursuit, and when his conscience finally wins over his sense of professional duty, he decides to bring his conundrum up with the Chief of Police.

The System (Das System) – alles verstehen heisst alles verzeihen) directed by Marc Bauder – U.S. Premiere and OPENING NIGHT FILM:
Germany, 2011, 90 min, in German
Presented by the Goethe-Institut New York
Cast: Jacob Matschenz, Bernhard Schuetz, Jenny Schily
Official Selection – Max Ophuels Filmfestival Saarbruecken

Screening followed by Q&A with director Marc Bauder and co-screenwriter Doerte Franke

Starring the captivating Jacob Matschenz, who appeared in the lead role of Beats Being Dead, Christian Petzold’s contribution in the Dreileben film trilogy, The System is a self-assured fiction feature debut about a young man who is seduced by power and money when he crosses paths with former agents of the East German secret police. The once popular seaside town of Rostock, now a bit empty and much less alluring, is where this 20-year-old lives with his widowed mother. He doesn’t know anything about his father or the circumstances of his death. Being a bit of a rebel and a petty thief, he’s easily convinced by a man in a flashy car and suit to become his apprentice. He hopes to solve the mystery of his father’s death that his mother does not want to divulge. But as the full German title of the film suggests, understanding comes at a price.

Wasted Youth directed and written by Argyris Papadimitropoulos, Jan Vogel – NY Premiere
Greece, 2010, 98 min, in Greek
Presented by the Romanian Cultural Institute in New York
Cast: Harris Markou, Ieronimos Kaletsanos
Official Selection – Rotterdam Film Festival, Opening night film in 2011

Screening will be followed by Q&A with director Argyris Papadimitropoulos.

The film takes place on a sweltering summer day in Athens on the backdrop of the financial crisis, and follows two characters from their morning routine to the events of the evening, which bring them together. The teenage skater Harry is on a mission to enjoy his summer break to the fullest, waking up after a possibly wild night in a comfortable villa of a family friend to later find himself in a cramped apartment with his disapproving father. The way we meet the middle-aged Vasilis suggests he leads a tiring life of a man troubled by a recent business flop and unhappy with the direction his life has taken. The tension builds up throughout the film to a sudden end when the two characters finally meet. The young directors took inspiration from a true story that sparked the December 2008 riots in Greece.

White White World (Beli, beli svet) directed by Oleg Novkovic
Serbia-Germany-Sweden, 2010, 121 min,in Serbian
Presented by the Romanian Cultural Institute in New York
Cast: Jasna Djuricic, Uliks Fehmiu, Hana Selimovic
Official Selection – Locarno Film Festival

Screening followed by Q&A with producer and star of the film Uliks Fehmiu

Returning to the austere surroundings of the vast strip mine in the Serbian town of Bor, after he documented the local life and a group of miners who staged Bertolt Brecht’s Beggar’s Opera under the direction of Milena Markovic, Novkovic filmed an opera of his own in the same setting – or rather a Greek-like melodrama with songs. Penned by Markovic, the tragic story centers on a love triangle. A young woman awaits the return of her mother from prison. She was sent there for killing her husband and as a result her daughter was parentless throughout her lonely childhood, living with a weak grandfather who prefers the company of a bottle of alcohol. She grew up longing for her mother but at the same time hating her for leaving her alone. The drama begins when they meet again, but realize that they are in love with the same man, the local bar owner who goes by the nickname of King.